Refrigerator having locking device for ice bucket and method for installing locking device for ice bucket

ABSTRACT

There is provided a refrigerator having a locking device for an ice bucket and a method for installing a locking device for an ice bucket. A refrigerator having a locking device for an ice bucket, comprising: a main body; a storage space within the main body; an ice space configured to be disposed inside the main body, and partitioned from the storage space, and having a front opening; an ice bucket comprising an ice storage part which stores ice generated within the ice space; and a cover member which is disposed in front of the ice storage part to cover a front of the ice space and configured to be slidably installed in the ice space; and a locking device configured to lock the ice bucket within the ice space to prevent the ice bucket from being drawn out of the ice space by itself.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based on and claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2015-0085833, filed on Jun. 17, 2015, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a refrigerator having an ice bucket and a method for installing a device for an ice bucket.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A refrigerator is a device for low temperature storage of food and may be configured to provide freezing storage or cold storage according to the type of food which a user wants to store.

The inside of the refrigerator is continuously supplied by cold air. The cold air is continuously generated by a heat exchange process with a refrigerant which goes through a process of compression-condensation-expansion-evaporation. The cold air supplied to the inside of the refrigerator is evenly transferred by convection to maintain the food in the refrigerator at a desired temperature.

Generally, a main body of the refrigerator has a rectangular parallelepiped shape of which the front surface is opened and the inside of the main body may be provided with a refrigerating space and a freezing space. Further, the front surface of the main body may be provided with a refrigerating space door and a freezing space door for selective accessing of a portion of the refrigerator. A storage space in the refrigerator may be provided with multiple drawers, shelves, receiving boxes, etc., in which various food may be stored in an optimal condition.

Traditionally, a top mount type refrigerator has a freezing space positioned in an upper portion and has a refrigerating space positioned in a lower portion. Recently, however, for user convenience, a bottom freezer type refrigerator in which the freezing space is positioned in a lower portion has been released. In the case of the bottom freezer type refrigerator, a frequently used refrigerating space is positioned in an upper portion and a relatively less used freezing space is positioned in a lower position. Thus a user may conveniently use the refrigerating space. However, since the freezing space is positioned in the lower portion, the bottom freezer type refrigerator has a problem in that a user bends over to open the freezing space door and take out ice.

To solve the above problem, recently, a refrigerator has been released in which a dispenser for obtaining ice is installed at the refrigerating space door positioned in the upper portion of the bottom freezer type refrigerator. In this case, the refrigerating space door or the inside of the refrigerating space may be provided with an ice machine.

The ice machine may include an ice space which includes an ice tray that generates ice, an ice bucket in which the generated ice is stored, and a transfer assembly transferring the ice stored in the ice bucket to the dispenser.

The ice bucket may be drawn into the ice space or drawn out of the ice space while sliding through the opened front surface of the ice space. Further, the refrigerator may include a locking device which locks the ice bucket to prevent the ice bucket from being drawn out of the ice space by itself.

The existing locking device for the ice bucket is provided with a projection fixed at one side thereof and prevents the ice bucket from being drawn out of the ice space by itself by locking or unlocking a locking part. The locking part is locked to the projection, or from the projection, by a spring and an opening button.

However, the existing locking device as described above is inconvenient because operating the opening button requires both hands. Further, the existing locking device has a complicated structure due to the spring and the opening button being separately installed and thus has a high failure rate, increased cost of materials, etc.

Further, since the existing locking device uses a metal spring, when the locking device is used for a long period of time, the locking device may have reduced elastic force due to spring aging or may not operate due to spring corrosion. As a result, the operating performance of the ice bucket may be reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above, embodiments of the present invention provide a refrigerator having a locking device for an ice bucket and a method for installing a locking device for an ice bucket capable of increasing user convenience by allowing a user to draw out the ice bucket with one hand, having reduced material cost, and improved durability through simplified structures.

Further, embodiments of the present invention provide a refrigerator having a locking device for an ice bucket and a method for installing a locking device for an ice bucket capable of increased reliability by providing an elastic force without using a metal spring to maintain the elastic force during long-term use.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator having a locking device for an ice bucket, the refrigerator including: a main body; a storage space formed inside the main body; an ice space inside the main body and partitioned from the storage space and having a front opening. The refrigerator further includes an ice bucket including an ice storage part which stores ice generated in the ice space and a cover member which is disposed in front of the ice storage part to cover the front of the ice space and slidably installed in the ice space to open and close the ice space. The refrigerator further includes a locking device configured to lock the ice bucket to the ice space to prevent the ice bucket from being drawn out of the ice space by itself. The locking device includes: a projection configured to protrude from an inner side of the ice space toward the ice bucket; an elastic module part in at least one of an upper portion and a lower portion of the ice bucket and including an elastic piece which has one end fixed to the ice bucket and another end in a free state and configured to provide an elastic force; a locking flap configured to contact the elastic module part to be applied with the elastic force from the elastic piece and having a projecting part which is locked to the projection by the elastic force; and a cover part configured to cover the locking flap and having an opening part through which the projecting part is exposed.

The elastic module part may be integrally formed in the ice bucket.

The elastic piece may include: a wave part configured to be bent in a wave shape with a predetermined length from a point fixed to the ice bucket toward the free end to increase the elastic force; and a plane part configured to be flatly formed from the wave part to the free end to push a portion of the projecting part of the locking flap toward the projection.

The other side of the projecting part may be integrally disposed with a hinge part so that the locking flap rotates by the elastic force.

The cover part may be separably coupled with the elastic module part.

The locking device may be installed at either of the upper portion and the lower portion of the ice bucket and the other portion of the ice bucket may be disposed with a first locking hook extending from the ice space and a second locking hook, extending from the ice bucket, to be locked to the first locking hook.

The locking device may be installed at both of the upper portion and the lower portion of the ice bucket.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method for installing a locking device for an ice bucket, the method including: forming an elastic module part provided with an elastic piece of which one end is fixed and another end is in a free state in at least one of an upper portion and a lower portion of the ice bucket disposed in a refrigerator; molding a locking flap including a projecting part projecting on a side thereof; molding a cover part which covers the locking flap and is disposed with an opening part through which the projecting part is exposed; coupling the cover part with the elastic module part by disposing the locking flap between the cover part and the elastic module part wherein a free end side of the elastic piece contacts a surface of the projecting part and the projecting part is inserted into the opening part; and installing a projection protruding from an inner side of an ice space of the refrigerator toward the ice bucket so that the projecting part is locked.

The elastic piece may be molded to have a wave part bent in a wave shape with a predetermined length from a point fixed to the ice bucket toward a free end to increase the elastic force and a plane part configured to be flatly formed from the wave part to the free end to push a point of the projecting part of the locking flap toward the projection.

The locking flap may be molded to rotate in response to the elastic force so that a side of the projecting part is integrally formed with a hinge part.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of an exemplary refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view of the refrigerator of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating an ice bucket that is drawn out from an ice space of the refrigerator illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view illustrating an exemplary locking device for an ice bucket according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating a locking state of the locking device for the ice bucket according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary locking device of the ice bucket, according to an embodiment of the present invention, installed at one of an upper portion and a lower portion of the ice bucket; and

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a locking device of the ice bucket, according to an embodiment of the present invention, installed at both the upper portion and the lower portion of the ice bucket.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, constructions and actions according to embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following description is one of aspects of the present invention which may be claimed as a patent and may form a portion of the detailed technologies of the present invention.

However, in describing the embodiments of the present invention, a detailed description of well-known constructions or functions will be omitted to make the present invention clear.

The present invention may be variously changed and include various embodiments, so that specific embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and will be described in detail below. However, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the specific exemplary embodiments, but includes all modifications, equivalents, and substitutions included in the spirit and the scope of the present invention.

Terms including an ordinal number such as ‘first’, ‘second’, etc., can be used to describe various components, but the components are not to be construed as being limited to the terms. The terms are only used to distinguish one component from another component.

Terms used in the present application are used only in order to describe specific embodiments rather than limiting the present invention. Singular forms are intended to include plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” or “have” used in this application, specify the presence of stated features, numerals, steps, operations, components, parts, or a combination thereof, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, numerals, steps, operations, components, parts, or a combination thereof.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view of an exemplary refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention and FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view of the refrigerator of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a refrigerator 1 having a locking device 100 for an ice bucket 40 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a main body 10, a storage space 20, an ice space 30, the ice bucket 40, and the locking device 100.

The description that an embodiment of the present invention includes the components listed above does not mean that the present invention does not include only the above components but means that the present invention can include these components and that the present invention may include other components (for example, technologies widely known with respect to refrigerators). However, the detailed description of known technologies will be omitted if it is deemed that such description would make the description of the present invention unnecessarily vague.

The main body 10 forms the appearance and supporting structure of the refrigerator 1 and may provide a space in which the components listed above and other components used in the operation of the refrigerator 1 may be formed or installed therein.

The storage space 20 is formed inside the main body 10 and has a front surface opening. The storage space 20 may be partitioned into a refrigerating space and a freezing space by a partition wall.

The front surface of the storage space 20 may be opened and closed by a pair of doors 21 which rotate and are hinge-coupled with the main body 10. The door 21 may be provided with a dispenser 50 which may extract ice generated in the ice space 30 from the outside without opening the door 21.

The dispenser 50 may include an extraction space 51 which may allow ice to be dispensed, a lever 52 which may select whether to extract ice, and a chute 53 which guides ice discharged through an ice discharge port 40 a of the ice bucket 40 to the extraction space 51.

Further, the ice space 30 may be disposed inside the main body 10 and partitioned from the storage space 20. The ice space 30 may be formed to have a front opening. The ice space 30 may be disposed at one side of the storage space 20 and may be partitioned from the storage space 20 by a wall of the ice space.

The ice space 30 may be provided with an ice assembly to generate ice, the ice assembly may be of any well-known design and therefore a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Further, the ice bucket 40 may be slidably installed in the ice space 30 to open and close the ice space 30. The ice bucket 40 may include an ice storage part 41 which stores ice generated in the ice space 30 and a cover member 42 which is disposed in front of the ice storage part 41 to cover the front of the ice space 30.

Further, the locking device 100 may lock the ice bucket 40 to the ice space 30 to prevent the ice bucket 40 from being drawn out of the ice space 30 by itself. When the ice bucket 40 is locked to the ice space 30 by the locking device 100, the ice bucket 40 may not be drawn out from the ice space 30 by itself as long as a user does not apply an external force and may be kept in a locking state.

Hereinafter, the locking device 100 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating an ice bucket that is drawn out from the ice space of the refrigerator illustrated in FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is an exploded view illustrating the locking device for the ice bucket according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating the locking state of the locking device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 3 to 5, the locking device 100 may include a projection 110 formed inside the ice space 30, an elastic module part 120 formed in the ice bucket 40, a locking flap 130, and a cover part 140.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the projection 110 may project from an inner wall of the ice space 30 toward the ice bucket 40.

In one embodiment, when the projection 110 is installed on a ceiling 30 a of the ice space 30, the projection 110 may be disposed to project downward from a position contacting the cover member 42 of the ice bucket 40. Further, when the projection 110 is installed on a floor of the ice space 30, the projection 110 may be disposed to project upward from a position contacting the cover member 42 of the ice bucket 40 or the ice storage part 41.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the elastic module part 120 may be formed in at least one of the upper portion and the lower portion of the ice bucket 40 and the elastic providing part 120 may be integrally formed in the ice bucket 40.

The elastic module part 120 may be formed below a surface of the ice bucket 40 with a predetermined depth so that the locking flap 130 and the cover part 140 may be installed below the surface. The elastic module part 120 may include the elastic piece 121 which provides an elastic force.

One end of the elastic piece 121 is fixed to the ice bucket 40 and the other end is free from (e.g., not connected to) the ice bucket 40 and thus may be formed in a free state.

In this case, as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, the elastic piece 121 may include a wave part 121 a and a plane part 121 b.

The wave part 121 a has a structure to increase the elastic force of the elastic piece 121 and the wave part 121 a may be bent in a wave shape with a predetermined length from one point fixed to the ice bucket 40 with the other point toward the free end. The wave part 121 a has a structure in which protrusions and depressions are repeated, and as a result, its ability to provide elastic force may be increased and is less likely to be deformed or destroyed even though substantial force is applied to the wave part 121 a. Further, the plane part 121 b is flatly formed from the wave part 121 a toward the free end and thus may contact the locking flap 130 to provide an elastic force.

Further, the locking flap 130 is disposed to contact the elastic module part 120 so that it receives the elastic force from the elastic piece 121. The locking flap 130 may generally be formed with a flat side and another side thereof may be disposed with a projecting part 131 projecting to a predetermined height on one side thereof to be locked to the projection 110 by the elastic force from the elastic piece 121.

An end portion opposite the projecting part 131 of the locking flap 130 may be integrally formed with a hinge part 132 so that the projecting part 131 is locked to the projection 110 while the locking flap 130 rotates by the elastic force applied by the elastic piece 121.

Therefore, when the elastic force is exerted from the elastic piece 121 (for example, the plane part 121 b of the elastic piece 121), the projecting part 131 is locked into the projection 110 while moving in the same direction as the elastic force, with the locking flap 130 rotating based on the hinge part 132. Here, the hinge part 132 of the locking flap 130 may be inserted into one side of the elastic module part 120.

Further, the cover part 150 covers the locking flap 130 and may be disposed with an opening part 141 through which the projecting part 131 extends. The projecting part 131 penetrates through the cover part 140 through the opening part 141 to be locked to the projection 110. The cover part 140 may be separably coupled with the elastic module part 120 and a portion of the cover part 140 may cover a portion of the locking flap 130 and a portion of the inside of the elastic module part 120.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, the locking device 100 is installed at one of the upper portion and the lower portion of the ice bucket 40. One of the upper portion and the lower portion of the ice bucket 40 may include a first locking hook 11 extending from the ice space 30. A second locking hook 12 may extend from the ice bucket 40 to be locked to the first locking hook 11.

FIG. 6 illustrates that the upper portion of the ice bucket 40 is disposed with the locking device 100 and the lower portion of the ice bucket 40, at which the locking device 100 is not installed, may be disposed with the first locking hook 11 and the second locking hook 12 to lock between the ice space 30 and the ice bucket 40. In another embodiment, the lower portion of the ice bucket 40 is disposed with the locking device 100 and the upper portion of the ice bucket 40 may be provided with the first locking hook 11 and the second locking hook 12 to lock between the ice space 30 and the ice bucket 40.

Moreover, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the locking device 100 may also be installed both at the upper portion and the lower portion of the ice bucket 40.

Hereinafter, a method for installing a locking device 100 for an ice bucket 40 according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described and a detailed description thereof will cite the foregoing description.

According to the method for installing a locking device 100 for an ice bucket 40, the elastic module part 120 configured to provide the elastic force may be formed in at least any one of the upper portion and the lower portion of the ice bucket 40 which is disposed in the refrigerator.

The elastic module part 120 may include the elastic piece 121 and the elastic piece 121 may be integrally molded in the ice bucket 40 with one end fixed to the ice bucket 140 and the other end in a free state.

The elastic piece 121 may be molded to have a wave part 121 a bent in a wave shape, with a predetermined length from a point fixed to the ice bucket 40 toward the free end to increase the elastic force, and the plane part 121 b flatly formed from the wave part 121 a toward the free end.

Further, the locking flap 130 may be provided separately from the elastic module part 120. The locking flap 130 may be injection-molded so that the projecting part 131 projects on one side of the locking flap 130. The locking flap 130 may be molded to rotate due to the elastic force and the other end opposite the projecting part 131 is integrally formed with the hinge part 132.

Further, the separate cover part 140 may be disposed thereon. The cover part 140 covers a portion of the locking flap 130 and may be molded to have the opening part 141 through which the projecting part 131 protrudes.

As such, the elastic providing part 120 is formed in the ice bucket 40 (e.g., separately), after the locking flap 130 and the cover part 140 are molded, the free end of the elastic piece 121 contacts a surface of the projecting part 131, and the locking flap 130 is disposed between the cover part 140 and the elastic module part 120 so that the projecting part 131 is inserted into the opening part 141. As a result, the cover part 140 may be disposed in the elastic module part 120. Further, the projection 110 is installed at the inner side of the ice space 30 of the refrigerator so that the projecting part 131 is locked with the projection 110. Therefore, when the projection 110 projects toward the ice bucket 40, the installation of the locking device 100 is complete.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the user may advantageously draw out the ice bucket with one hand to increase the convenience of the ice bucket and the structure may be simplified to save material cost and improve durability.

Further, the elastic force may be provided without using the spring of the metal material and therefore the same elastic force is maintained even after long-term use, thereby increasing the reliability of products.

While the embodiments of the present invention have been described with respect to the preferred embodiments, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments. It will be understood that a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains may substitute and change components without any limitation and these substitutions and changes also belong to the scope of the present invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A refrigerator having a locking device for an ice bucket, the refrigerator comprising: a main body; a storage space within the main body; an ice space disposed inside the main body, and partitioned from the storage space, and having a front opening; an ice bucket comprising: an ice storage portion configured to store ice generated within the ice space; and a cover member which is disposed in front of the ice storage portion to cover a front of the ice space and configured to be slidably installed in the ice space; and the locking device configured to lock the ice bucket within the ice space to prevent the ice bucket from being drawn out of the ice space by itself, wherein the locking device comprises: a projection configured to protrude from an inner side of the ice space toward the ice bucket; an elastic module portion in at least any one of an upper portion and a lower portion of the ice bucket and comprising an elastic piece that has a fixed end affixed to the ice bucket and a free end opposite to the fixed end that is configured to provide an elastic force; a locking flap separably coupled with the elastic module portion, and configured to receive the elastic force from the elastic piece, and comprising a projecting part which is locked to the projection by the elastic force; and a cover part configured to cover a portion of the locking flap and comprising an opening through which the projecting part extends, wherein the elastic piece includes: a wave part having a substantially wave shape, in which protrusions and depressions are repeated in a predetermined length, to increase the elastic force, and a plane part flatly formed from the wave part toward the free end and configured to push a portion of the projecting part of the locking flap toward the projection, and wherein the locking flap has a structure in which one end has a bottom surface separably coupled with the free end of the elastic piece to receive the elastic force and an upper surface on which the projecting part is formed to be locked to the projection and in which the other end has a hinge part allowing the locking flap to rotate under the elastic force.
 2. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the elastic module portion is integrally formed in the ice bucket.
 3. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the cover part is separably coupled with the elastic module portion.
 4. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the locking device is disposed at one of the upper portion and the lower portion of the ice bucket and wherein an opposing side of the ice bucket comprises a first locking hook extending from the ice space and comprising: a second locking hook extending from the ice bucket and configured to be locked to the first locking hook.
 5. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein a first locking device is disposed in the upper portion of the ice bucket and a second locking device is disposed at the lower portion of the ice bucket.
 6. An apparatus comprising: an ice bucket comprising an ice storage portion configured to store ice and configured to be slidably installed in a refrigerator; and a locking device configured to lock the ice bucket, wherein the locking device comprises: a projection configured to protrude from an inner side of the refrigerator toward the ice bucket; an elastic module portion in at least any one of an upper portion and a lower portion of the ice bucket and comprising an elastic piece that has a fixed end affixed to the ice bucket and a free end opposite to the fixed end that is configured to provide an elastic force; a locking flap separably coupled with the elastic module portion, and configured to receive the elastic force from the elastic piece, and comprising a projecting part which is locked to the projection by the elastic force; and a cover part configured to cover a portion of the locking flap and comprising an opening through which the projecting part extends, wherein the elastic piece includes a wave part having a substantially wave shape, in which protrusions and depressions are repeated in a predetermined length, to increase the elastic force, and a plane part flatly formed from the wave part toward the free end and configured to push a portion of the projecting part of the locking flap toward the projection, and wherein the locking flap has a structure in which one end has a bottom surface separably coupled with the free end of the elastic piece to receive the elastic force and an upper surface on which the projecting part is formed to be locked to the projection and in which the other end has a hinge part allowing the locking flap to rotate under the elastic force.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the elastic module part is integrally formed in the ice bucket.
 8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the cover part is separably coupled with the elastic module portion.
 9. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the locking device is disposed at one of the upper portion and the lower portion of the ice bucket and wherein an opposing side of the ice bucket comprises a first locking hook extending from the refrigerator and comprising: a second locking hook extending from the ice bucket and configured to be locked to the first locking hook.
 10. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein a first locking device is disposed in the upper portion of the ice bucket and a second locking device is disposed at the lower portion of the ice bucket.
 11. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising another locking device. 